The work of choreographer Ellen Sinopoli is often distinguished by the ways in which her dancers move as a group, taking flight across the stage like a flock of birds or flowing together in artfully composed patterns.

But for the first time, Sinopoli has made a dance that's all about solos. "Solo Flight," set to premiere Saturday at the company's annual performance at The Egg, gives each company member a few moments to own the stage.

"My dancers all have very distinct characteristics and ways of moving," Sinopoli said. "In choreographing the solos, I really paid attention to their personalities, the way they approach dance and the singular artistry they bring to the choreography."

For Claire Jacob-Zysman, Sinopoli made a running dance: "She has a real lightness to her movement — sometimes it feels as if she's skimming the surface." For the long-limbed Andre Robles (the only male in the troupe), she created an adagio section that focuses on length, shape, angular patterns and sustained movement.

"Laura (Teeter) has a very bubbly personality, and I wanted the movement in her solo to pick up on that," Sinopoli said. The solo "traps" Teeter in a small section of the stage, from which she's "always trying to burst out." The solos for Sarah Senecal and Melissa George also bring a sense of energy and play. Senecal's movement contains a hint of flirtatiousness, while George's solo exploits her "quicksilver way of moving," the choreographer said.

With company member Marie Klaiber recovering from hand surgery, former Sinopoli dancer Jennifer Yackel has stepped in for this performance, and fortunately she and Klaiber have similar approaches to movement, Sinopoli said. She described the solo (which was choreographed on Yackel but will become Klaiber's when she returns) as "animalistic and predatory."

"There are small snippets that are similar from one solo to another, to add a bit of continuity, but even there, the dancers add their own individualistic flavor," Sinopoli said.

The performers will be distinguished by their costumes as well: Each dancer chose an outfit from the company's extensive repertoire, created over the past two decades by costume designer Kim Vanyo. All the music for the work comes from the CD "Habanera," by Paquito D'Rivera, but each of the tracks has a different feel, ranging from udu (an African percussion instrument) to classical jazz.

As bookends to the premiere of "Solo Flight," the company will perform two older works, "Clusters," from 1995, and "Dreams," a duet that was featured in the troupe's very first concert, back in 1991. Sinopoli has refreshed both works with new set designs. "Clusters," with "moments of both high energy and Zen-like quiet," will be complemented by a video montage of artist Thom O'Connor's monochromatic nature prints. The new set design for "Dreams," which will be danced by Teeter and Robles, highlights the work of quilter Linda O'Connor, Thom's late wife; an enlarged image of her quilt "Basket" will serve as a backdrop for the piece.

Sinopoli has also updated the 2011 ensemble piece "Blues," reworking some sections and adding new music by Fred James and Mary-Ann Brandon, K.D. Lang and Sonny Landreth. Also on the program is "Contrapuntal Swing," a piece for the five women, set to Leonard Bernstein's "Prelude, Fugue and Riffs."

Reconstructing some of the older works for the company's current dancers required both adaptation and careful attention to what had come before. To prepare "Clusters" for the stage this year, Sinopoli and the dancers watched three separate videos taken of the piece over the years. None of the company members were among the original cast of the work, so Sinopoli made subtle shifts to accommodate the strengths and styles of the dancers she has now.

"You can take the essence of the choreography and make nuanced changes to better fit the qualitative approach of a particular dancer, which makes the piece stronger and gives it fresh breath and life," she said.